Salt and Pepper
by emmbot
Summary: Takumi Aldini's fire finds an unexpected companion in the slow-smouldering coals that make up Tadokoro Megumi's spirit. A series of one shots from high school to adulthood.
1. Chapter 1: Love is a Funny Thing

**Love is a Funny Thing**

 **06:25 – Rebun Island, Japan – The Day of the RDC Finals**

He finds her sitting in one of the common rooms a little after dawn. Somewhere in the test kitchens below, Yukihira and Nakiri are still arguing over heads and tails and everything in between. It was Ishiki who'd told him to get some rest in lieu of Megishima's early-morning arrival.

 _All hands on deck, and we're down to just two._

Megumi has her back to him, shoulders slumped. Her hair, usually worn in her two iconic braids, is loose. He can't remember ever seeing her this way, the gentle rays of the early morning sun kissing her soft features and pale skin, slightly-curled tresses brushing her shoulders and the nape of her neck.

In that moment, Takumi understands one thing: Yukihira Soma is a lucky man.

"Aren't you tired, Tadokoro-san?"

"Oh, Aldini-kun." She glances back with a wearied smile. Like him, she wears the dark circles beneath her eyes with pride. But it is a different sort of exhaustion he sees in her. It's barely there, but present nonetheless, in the slight downward flicker of her gaze and the timid way in which she clenches her fists. "I'm alright. Why don't you get some rest, yourself? You must be exhausted too, after facing Kobayashi-senpai too."

"I'm okay." He finds one of the soft woollen throws in the room and drapes it over her slim shoulders. "The real question is: are you?"

For her part, she tries to smile. It's one of the first things he'd noticed about her when they'd first encountered one another during the Moon Banquet Festival. Tadokoro Megumi: forever willing to support, ever present by Yukihira's side, and a chef in her own right, with ideals of her own to uphold.

Tadokoro Megumi, who even now, must surely be heartbroken.

"I'm just disappointed, heh heh." She chuckles weakly, and her hands move to tousle the hair at the back of her head. "I really wanted to win, you know. I guess Akanegakubo-senpai was just too good. A-and anyway, Nakiri-san saved that bout."

He smiles lightly. The girl is so damn transparent. His mind wanders back to the night before, when Isami had made an off-handed comment. _Tadokoro-san must find it difficult, watching Yukihira-kun and Nakiri-san get closer. It's obvious she loves them both._

He hadn't understood then, why the statement had stung so much. Looking at her now, he thinks he understands – if not fully, then maybe just a little bit more. "Don't sell yourself short." He places a hand on her shoulder. "I know I'm one to talk, but you don't need to hero-worship Nakiri-san, you know. It's not what she'd want. We're all equals here."

Tadokoro turns away. "O-of course."

"Megumi." He uses her name deliberately. "You love them, don't you? Yukihira-kun and Nakiri-san. Don't worry. You're not invisible. They love you too, and…" He pauses, willing her to turn back to him. When she does, he smiles, and feels his heart warm at the softness of her own golden gaze. "And I love you too. I'll support you, the way you support everyone else. So don't look so glum, okay?"

He lets that hang between them for a moment.

And then the panic sinks in. Tadokoro lets out a sheepish laugh, cheeks eaten up in crimson as she waves him away in that flustered, adorable manner, and he can only react in similar fashion. After, when they're done apologising to one another, he makes up some excuse about being overly tired to the point of spouting nonsense. To her credit, Tadokoro accepts it with zero question and a smile that sends needles into his heart.

Later, Isami laughs at him for it.


	2. Chapter 2: Otherwise Engaged

**Otherwise Engaged**

 **17:15 - Naples, Italy - The day of Le Aurora's Opening  
**

 _I am Tadokoro Megumi. Thank you all for coming to the opening of Le Aurora. I invite you to taste the flavours of my home – and the home of my partner in business – and I hope you have an enjoyable night._

She checks herself in the ornate mirror by the establishment's entrance – a beautifully carved rosewood piece Ishiki senpai had sent over as an opening gift just last week. The words flow silken-smooth in her mind. In less than three hours, the press and various high-ranking members of the culinary industry will arrive to celebrate with her.

In real time, her speech does not go as intended. The words twist her tongue in ways she can't understand, and she finds herself stuttering as she repeats word after word. _I might as well have marbles in my mouth._

Takumi's golden head catches in the sunlight, and she glances around to find her partner – in business and in life – smiling at her. He's already dressed, his chef's whites ironed to perfect crispness and his eyes bright with amusement. "Are you nervous? There's no need to be, you know. I have every confidence you'll win their hearts."

She shakes her head, clenching her fists even as he makes his way over to her side. "What if we overcook the fish?"

"You can cook that dish in your sleep. I'm pretty sure you _have_ , even." He takes her hands and kisses her knuckles, and she feels her knees threaten to buckle. "You should relax. It's just our soft launch. We can iron out the kinks."

She lets out a sigh, allowing herself to lean forward. His arms come up around her, and he bears her weight easily, as he has since the day she'd opened her door to find him standing there, soaking wet with a confession on his lips. In Takumi's arms, she feels safe. Loved, appreciated, and oh-so-very wanted.

"Are we making a mistake?" She glances up at him, grinning helplessly. "You know there's a reason they say to never work with family and friends. What if this breaks us?" Something catches in her throat, and she has to physically bite down the surge of panic from within. "What if we end up like Nancy and Mark?"

Takumi lets out a laugh. "Then I'd be more than happy to let you shine, my heart. But worry not. I'll never let you go." His hand comes up to stroke her hair, and she leans back, relishing in his smile. "You think I'd let something as silly as envy come between us? You're an amazing chef, and you deserve every award you've ever received, as well as those that will come."

He takes her into his arms again. She's just wondering how it is her lover's this composed when she realises he isn't. Not really.

His heart is beating just a little too fast.

It isn't until she withdraws, somewhat confused, that she sees it. The faint traces of a little square box, too distinct to be anything but. Her breath catches in her throat. When she looks up to meet his eyes, the man is smiling just a touch sheepishly, evidently aware that he's been caught.

Mindful of his embarrassment, she chooses to feign ignorance. "W-We should start getting ready. The press will be here soon."

He lets out a breath, and his brows furrow. For one brief moment, he appears to consider something – then he leans back and locks the front door with a soft, final click.

Then he turns to her, and without hesitation, pulls out the pale-blue box. "The cat's out of the bag, so I might as well do it now. I've been carrying this around for weeks, but we've been busy with the opening, and I wanted it to be perfect. But… but this is perfect too, isn't it?"

"Takumi, wha-"

She can't hear herself over the beating of her heart. The air around them seems to heat up, and the world outside ceases to exist. She's certain she's blushing.

"We're starting a new journey together, Megumi. But I also want to start another." His pale lashes flick downwards as he glances down to the box in his hands. "And I know the next weeks are going to be hell, but I promise you, I am going to do everything in my power to make sure we get through it. I would do anything to make you happy. So what do you think? Will you do me the honour and make me the happiest man in the world? Can we mark today by starting the journey to husband and wife?"

She has no words. But surely he knows her answer – and how could he not? It's only moments later that the box is open, and the ring is on her hand. Then she's up in the air, his arms around her as they twirl and swirl, and suddenly they're laughing together and his lips are on hers.

"Yes," She lets out, breathless in laughter once her feet have found the floor. "Yes."


	3. Chapter 3: False Assumptions

**False Assumptions**

 **16:30 – Totsuki – Third year**

"First things first – I'm going to say all the words inside my head. I'm fired up, Yukihira. I'm tired of the way that things have been."

Yukihira lets out a chuckle, caught between mild amusement and affection. As fond as he is of Takumi, the Italian really does have a flair for dramatic entrances. "You aren't going to drop a glove and make me pick it up, are you?"

Takumi rolls his eyes, swiping the blond from his forehead. The deep blue eyes flicker upwards to the control room overhead, but only for the briefest of moments. "No, but I mean it, Yukihira. Today's the day I beat you."

"That's what I like to hear." He unwinds the length of fabric around his wrist, giving it a light shake. "Let's do our best."

The rise of the Shokugeki has seen to it that Totsuki is never in short supply of entertainment and inspiration. And though those of the Elite Ten – Hayama and Alice and Ryo in particular – take great pleasure in fighting one another on an almost-daily basis, the crowd has lost none of its appetite for culinary combat. And what more to draw a crowd than a battle between the First Seat, and his long-time rival the Heir Aldini?

It isn't until he's halfway through the allocated cooking time, hands deep in pastry dough laced with deep red saffron threads, that he even realises there's something different in the air. Throughout the course of his fifty seven Shokugeki matches with Takumi, Yukihira has come to expect odds stacked against him. Where Takumi goes, so too do his groupies, and sure enough, they're there in the crowd, a group of girls that only swells in numbers each time they do battle.

It's different today, though – Takumi usually pays his groupies no mind, so it's a little surprising when the blond actually manages, for once, to tear his focus away from his work. His eyes scan the crowd as the girls cheer, but he barely seems to see them. It's an incongruous sight that holds his deep blue gaze: that of a dark-haired girl in the front row – the current tenth seat of Totsuki's Elite Ten Council.

 _Tadokoro?_

He watches the pair curiously as the minutes pass. Months in the kitchen with Erina have taught him how to multi-task, and it's how he finds himself putting together his dish at present. It isn't until he finally serves up his deconstructed osso bucco pie that Tadokoro even spares him a smile, both sheepish and embarrassed at the same time.

When the winner is announced, the hall erupts in cheers. Stunned, he looks to Takumi, whose eyes are blazing with something he can't quite place.

"You did it," He grins, approaching the blond with knife-box in tow. "Fair and square. Can I taste some of that forcemeat? It looked really delicious."

Takumi snatches back his knife, slightly red in the face, as if in disbelief. Behind him, Tadokoro's face stands out in the crowd, and all of a sudden, it becomes clear to him just what this is about, and just how much he must've missed after all.

 _You're an oblivious dolt!_ Nakiri's voice rings in his head, and he can't help but to let out a chuckle. _She's going to be so mad at me._ "Takumi," he lowers his voice, sticking his hands into his pockets. "You really should have told me that this was a battle for a fair maiden's hand."

"W-what?!" The blond sputters, but the whitening of his knuckles about the edges of his knife case tell a different tale. "Damn you, Yukihira! You don't even know what's going on half the time. I just wanted my knife back."

"Then why do you keep looking back at Tadokoro? She's not going to be mad you beat me, you know."

Takumi growls. Beneath the menace, though, there's exasperation, and just a hint of envy. "Yeah, well. I can never be too sure with you two."

He clears his throat. "Takumi, Nakiri and I have been official for literally half a year. I don't know how you thought Tadokoro and I were a thing – she's like a sister to me."

In the din of students and judges exiting the hall, the space between him and Takumi is deathly silent. The Italian blinks, once, and then again, the red blooming deeper and darker. He half expects more shouting, but none comes. Instead, Takumi turns on his heels, mutters a quick 'thank you', and disappears into the crowd.

He looks up to meet Tadokoro's eyes; she manages a wry smile and the shrug of a shoulder, and he can only sigh in response. _Nakiri really was right about these two._

* * *

Hours have passed. Takumi sits in his room, legs crossed, mezzaluna gleaming in the dim moonlight filtering in through the window. Isami is out somewhere tonight, so he's all alone.

Except he isn't.

A soft knock brings him to his feet, to the door, and of course it's Tadokoro, because who else could it be?

She beams, holding up a stack of boxes wrapped in polka-dotted fabric. It's a homely sight, one that reminds him of days spent in the Tuscan sun with his family and friends, of picnic foods and cured meats in hampers, bottles of juice and wine and fresh lemonade from the fruit in their gardens. Home.

 _Tadokoro is home._

"I thought you'd be hungry," she says, and he steps aside to let her in.

"Starving," he tells her.

They eat in the balcony, beneath the light of the moon and stars. Tadokoro's food has come a long way since her early days – and if he thinks very hard, he can recall the smell and taste of their very first food encounter. Like many of his memories, it includes Yukihira.

Tadokoro refills his cup of tea. He glances at her, and as she holds his gaze, he can't help but to wonder if their future holds more – more quiet dinners in each others' company, more friendly cooking squabbles, more memories.

He wonders if they'd be sweeter without Yukihira's shadow hanging between them.

"What is it, Takumi-kun?"

He can't believe how quickly she makes his heart beat. "N-nothing!" He waves a hand lightly, and prays he doesn't look as flustered as he feels. "I'm just really glad I got my mezzaluna back, that's all!"

Tadokoro beams. If she knows there's something else, she doesn't say it. They don't talk about it, the thing that hangs between them. _But you should at some point_ , Isami had said.

He wonders if he'll ever work up the courage to tell her.

* * *

 **A/N - Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Takumegu isn't my main ship, but from time to time as I receive requests on my Tumblr, I may drabble for them. Glad ya'll seem to be enjoying!**


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